President’s Page

As I write this article, I am still in awe of recent events! We have witnessed something astounding – the Lionesses’ historical win of the Euro 2022 final on 31st July, is not only an amazing win for England, it is a major win for humankind! The Lionesses have inspired generations to believe in achieving their dreams irrespective of their gender. The win also re-ignites the drive to make our Society more inclusive and diverse. With focus and effort, we can work together to make this happen.

In local news, I participated in the Derby Legal Walk on 7 July 2022 with colleagues at Alexander & Co Solicitors LLP and several other firms. The company and weather were wonderful making the 10k walk a very enjoyable experience. The walk was organised by Derby Junior Lawyers and drinks at the Orange Tree were sponsored by BCL Legal and Geldards LLP. Many thanks to those who participated and sponsored the walk, we managed to raise just shy of £2,000 (fantastic achievement!) for the Access to Justice’s Foundation’s local branch the Midland Legal Support Trust to support free legal advice charities.

The Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing in England by NHS found that 1 in 6 people aged 16+ had experienced symptoms of a common mental health problem, such as depression or anxiety, in the past week. I am therefore pleased to confirm that the chosen charity of this year is Derbyshire Mind, a mental health charity which focus on improving mental health and wellbeing for people across Derby and Derbyshire.

There are some exciting events planned for this year including: • Cricket match against Nottinghamshire

Law Society • Family law update/ other training courses • Networking events • Charity Bake Off, proceeds to go to our nominated charity, Derbyshire Mind • Webinars and Workshops to support mental health and wellbeing • Ghost Crawl • Christmas Social

Watch this space for further information, if you would like to get involved with supporting an event or have ideas for any other events, please contact our administrator Julia Saunders by email admin@derbylaw.net

I will also be representing our Society at Northamptonshire Annual Awards Dinner on 23 September 2022.

Finally, an early save the date – our annual Dinner and Awards evening will be held earlier on 31 March 2023 at Pride Park Stadium, a night not to be missed!

I hope that you are all enjoying the exotic summer weather and I look forward to seeing you all at an event soon.

Manesha Ruparel President, 2022-23

The President’s Chosen Charity

A Date for your Diary

A message from our CEO, Jenny Hotchkiss

We are incredibly grateful to have been chosen as your Charity of the Year! As a charity, we are reliant upon donations to fund our community mental wellbeing services. We want to grow our services so that we can support more people, as we know that the need for our help outweighs our current resources, but we can only achieve this with the generous support of people like yourselves. Thank you so much!

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/derbyanddistrictlawsociety-derbyanddistrictlawsociety?utm_term=JVe637vnb

Free Family Update Course from No 36 Chambers in London - 5.30pm on 20th September 2022 at Nelsons DERBY

Deborah Dinan-Hayward will present a finance update and tips and tricks for the financial remedies advocate including an update regarding The Efficiency statement, Transparency Offers and costs implications and Legal funding

• Clare Meredith will be presenting a Private Child Update. • The course will last approximately an hour and a half with refreshments to follow. • Although the course is free please e-mail me at admin@derbylaw.net to reserve your place.